Christmas Eve Bulletin

Christmas Eve at Union Church December 24, 2012

Gathering Music
“Three Carols on French Folk Melodies”                arr. Robert J. Powell
“Beautiful Star of Bethlehem”
Two Spanish Carols Donald Busarow/Norberto Guinaldo
“Follow the Light”
“Joseph, Dearest Joseph Mine”              Wayne Bisbee
“The Light of the Stable”
Larry Brandenburg, organist;  Al and Alice White, Ruth Smith; Kristen Hoskins, flute
Welcome                                                                                                             Rev. Kent Gilbert
Bringing In the Light “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” Polish Carol
¨ Call to Worship
One:  God shines, Shepherds follow, Angels sing, and Christ is born.
All: Music plays, Hearts settle, Minds ease, and God’s people gather.
One: Come, those who seek and those who have found long ago. Come, those with hearts aglow and those whose hearts are broken. Come to the place of God’s coming to us.
All: Come, let us adore him: the light of the world.
¨  Opening Hymn  #103 Red/Blue O Come, All Ye Faithful Adeste Fideles
Hebrew Scripture Reading          Isaiah 9:2-7 (p. 817)
Special Music                            “Prepare Thyself, Zion” (Christmas Oratorio)          J. S. Bach
Larry Brandenburg, tenor;  Rob Hayden, organ
Prepare thyself, Zion with tender affection the purest, the fairest this day to receive. Thou must meet Him with a heart with love o’er flowing. Haste then with ardor the Bridegroom to welcome.
Gospel Reading Luke 1:26-38 (p. 1225)
Choir Anthem “Linden Tree” Trad. German – trans. K. A. Hindenlang  Union Church Choir
In heaven stood a linden tree with pure white flowers laden; Yet not a bloom was fair as she, sweet Mary, chosen maiden.
Great Gabriel, God’s angel bright, from high above came winging To one, the purest in God’s sight, a joyful message bringing.
“Hail Mary, blessed virgin mild, with God you have found favor; You shall conceive and bear a child to all the world a Savior.”
“My soul does magnify the Lord!  I am His servant lowly; Be all according to His word,” said Mary meek and holy.
Away the angel flew to share the news of Mary’s duty; And heaven rejoiced that she would bear the Blossom of all Beauty.
Gospel Reading Luke 2:1-7 (p. 1227)
Special Music “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Ruth Smith, Al & Alice White, featuring Emma White
Gospel Reading                                                                                Luke 2:8-14 (p. 1227)
Hymn #113 Red/Blue                          Angels We Have Heard on High                           Gloria
Gospel Reading                                                                                 Luke 2:15-20 (p.1227)
Choir Anthem                                “Wexford Carol”                    arr. Larry Finke Union Church Choir; Merry Kay Winter, soloist
Good people all this Christmas time, consider well and bear in mind What our good God for us has done in sending His beloved Son. With Mary holy we should pray to God with love this Christmas day; In Bethlehem upon that morn there was a blessed Messiah born.
Near Bethlehem shepherds keep their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep; To whom God’s angels did appear, which put the shepherds in great fear. “Prepare, go,” the angels said, to Bethlehem be not afraid; For there you’ll find, this happy morn,  a princely babe, sweet Jesus born.”
With thankful heart and joyful mind, the shepherds went the babe to find, And as God’s angel had foretold, they did their Savior Christ behold. Within a manger He was laid.  And by His side the virgin mild, Attending on the Lord of all, so lowly laid in an ox’s stall.
Christmas Sermon Rev. Kent Gilbert
Special Music                             “O Holy Night”      Adolphe Adam
Gina Chamberlain, soloist, Deborah Payne, fiddle
Prayers of the People
One:     Gentle God, be among us as we remember where angels are needed in our lives today. Be present to us as we truly are, coming to the stable with faults and fears intact. Hold us in this holy hour that we may renew our wonder, and heal our hearts. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night.
One:     Gracious God, we pray for all who are busy, hurried, preoccupied like the innkeeper, that they may know the peace that comes from genuine hospitality. Rest their harried minds, and relieve them of the tyranny of detail, that the magnitude of your grace may flow easily in their souls. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night.
One:     We pray for those who fear for their wellbeing. In vulnerability you came to the vulnerable with Godly strength. We pray especially for those who have known too much death, and seen too much blood. We hold in the light the ones around the world whose lives are shattered by violence of every kind. May your light be their light, and your strength their redemption. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night.
One:     As your son was born poor, we know that you cannot help but care for those who have suffered poverty and want again this year. We pray for those who have lost their homes through fire and flood; those who do not have enough to eat or to wear; for refugees and homeless street people. Moved by our faith in the coming Christ, we ask your help to bring help, aid and justice to all in want. We would not just gawp at the manger, but long to rise and follow your love, even to the cross. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night.
One:     We pray for those who govern our affairs: may all the princes of this world become princes of peace, may the governments of every nation be founded on the shoulders of your justice and inclusive love. Grant wise counsel to our president, our governor, our mayor and all those who govern, that a spirit of respect and compassion may grow among all people, recognizing our common humanity and interdependence. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night.
One:     We pray for those who are lonely for other times and places; those who mourn the death of one they hold dear. We remember especially those hurting because of illness of body, mind, or spirit: Let us name them in our hearts and hold them in the Light…
(a brief silence is observed)
May they, and all of us, be aware of your love; may angels of healing and comfort be with them; and may angels in the form of friends attend their needs and to their joy, now and in all days to come. O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
All:     Be born in us this night and grant us your peace. Amen.
Offering
All of tonight’s offering will benefit Berea Faith Community Outreach, which provides such vital programs as Bereans United for Utility and Rent Relief (BUURR), the Berea Food Bank, and the Frank Gailey Transient Aid Fund. Your generous contribution will keep families warm in the midst of our winter. We will sing the verses indicated of hymns listed below as the plates are passed. Please sing from the RED or BLUE hymnal, “Hymns for the Living Church.”
#104        It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (st.1)
#108 The First Noel (st.1)
#112 Away in a Manger (st.1 & 2)
#120 Joy to the World (st.1 & 4)
Lighting the Christ Candle
One: Hope, peace, joy, and love. Four candles, four promises continually offered to us by God, and all of them manifest in this one we light tonight: the Christ candle. In Christ we find the hope of transformation, the peace that follows justice, the joy of self-fulfillment in community, and the love that encompasses us in all our diversity, empowering us to make our own unique contribution to this world. In Christ we find light and life, and the courage to walk in Jesus’ way in our own time.
One: With this light, we rejoice in God’s steadfast presence in our lives, and in God’s unique presence in the life of Jesus of Nazareth— born of Mary, growing through childhood into an adult ministry, in all his life manifesting the peace, love, and justice of God; his voice undimmed by the centuries of followers and failings, of changing times and new challenges. Christ’s light is as clear to us as it was to his disciples so long ago.
All: Come to us, Lord Jesus, Be born in us this night, in our hearts, our minds, our lives. May the light of your life be kindled in us, And lead us to the shining truth of God with us, God for us, God in us. Amen.
The Light of the World            John 1:1-14 (p. 1279)
Merlin Kindel, Moderator of the Church, Reader
¨  Candle Lighting Hymn #117 Red/Blue     Silent Night                        Stille Nacht
From the Christ candle the light spreads into the world. While passing the light, please tip your unlit candle to the lit one, to avoid dripping hot wax. You are invited to carry your lit candle home from tonight’s service to spread the light into the world. If you plan to carry your lit candle into the night, you may wish to put your coat on at this time.
¨  Benediction
Postlude                 “Joy to the World (Antioch)”                                      arr. Wayne Kerr
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¨  Those who wish may stand.